Inside The Fall
by BarrelRacer13
Summary: Hermes reflects on 9-11, and the horrors that filled him that day.


This is not my computer, it's my moms. But this story has been driving me insane for about 2 years now.

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**And eat plenty of mini chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies!**

New York City: Twin Towers

_**September 11, 2001**_

_A thin man with curly brown hair, and brown eyes, smiled as a girl, looking to be in her 20s told him that she was expecting a baby any time next month. Another man, looking like the first, smiled as well, and said that he was about to be a father for the second time. His wife was expecting their second child this month. But suddenly, the first man frowned, and made the two others be quiet. Shivers ran down his back, but before he could say anything, the glass windows seemed to explode, and screaming was heard. Something smashed into his back, and the roar of engines blocked out all sounds. _

_The girl, and the other man were blown into a wall, and knocked out. The first man tried to call out to them, but glass had fallen into his mouth, and slid down his throat, leaving a bloody slice, shimmering with the golden blood of immortals. He choked, and after a few minutes, his sight went black…_

_The towers fell, and clouds of dust and debris filled the air. The fireman had been forced to leave when darkness fell. A woman, with curly, blonde hair that shimmered with unnatural light, and stormy gray eyes, wearing what was worn back in the days of ancient Greece by all the Greek gods and goddesses, examined the ruins. Smoke still rose, and the broken pieces of building threatened to trip her. _

_She could feel the presence of another immortal, though she couldn't see it. For hours she looked around, called out, everything she could think of. But nowhere was another immortal seen. She paused to think, and decided to look around a bit more, but under the ruins. And after another hour, she found a man with curly brown hair, his throat cut open and still bleeding. His eyes were closed in unconsciousness, and his breathing was shallow, even for someone who would live forever. His skin was cold to the touch, despite the smoke still coming from the few small fires still burning. _

_He was dying._

New York City

**September 11, 2011**

Percy's POV

Annabeth was just outside the store, waiting for me to get out of the bathroom, so I hurried to wash my hands. But just as I got turned the corner to get to the sink –stupid, overly big bathroom…- someone crashed into me. Not the simple little bump, I mean walked strait into me, and made me stumble back.

"Watch where you're going!" I snapped.

"Watch who you use that tone of voice with, Percy Jackson." The other guy growled in response. I looked over at him to see a man with curly brown hair, and brown eyes. He glared at me from the ground, and I remember a similar glare I got once at camp from someone….

Anyway, the guy pulled himself up and brushed himself off.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. Which was stupid. You would think after so many years I would know to never ask that, because if it's just someone guessing who I am, and it's a monster, then I'm in trouble. He walked past me and didn't answer, only looked through his wallet, and pulled out a pen.

"I never knew you got a speeding ticket." He stated randomly.

"How did-hey! Give that back!" he held MY wallet out of my reach, and continued looking through it, before seeming to get bored and toss it to the ground. And then he clicked the pen. And I realized he had Rip Tide.

"Give me my sword!"

"Now is that anyway to talk to me, Percy?" he asked, as I jumped, trying to get the sword. He wasn't the tallest person ever, but he seemed to grow every time I got near him. And then I heard the flap of wings, and looked down to see sandals that laced all the way up, with little wings fluttering on them.

"Hermes?"

"Exactly. Now, how would you speak to a god, instead of all the 'give me this, give me that' crap you were trying to pull?"

"Can I pleas have my sword back, Lord Hermes."

He twisted the sword in his hands, before shrugging and handing me the sword.

"So, uh, what are you doing in the city?" I asked, quickly putting Rip Tide away.

"I live above the Empire State Building, Percy. That's in the city."

"No, I mean, like, actually in the city, and not delivering stuff…"

"Oh, just here to visit some old nightmares." And then he left, without another word.

"Hey, guess who I saw in the bathroom." I said to Annabeth once we started walking again.

"Your brain? Because that would be a great thing to see. No one sees it often."

I frowned. "That's not nice."

"Who did you see in the bathroom then?"

"Hermes. He said he was coming to the City to visit some 'old nightmares'. What was he talking about?"

"I don't know."

**New York City: Ground Zero**

**September 11, 2011**

"So many people died…if Nico gets a headache whenever someone with a mile from him dies, how bad of a headache do you think he would've had if he'd been out of the Lotus Hotel, and was somewhere in the city?" I asked, looking at the fountains that now marked where the Twin Towers had once been.

"I would assume the worst migraine ever. His headaches are bad enough with one person dying. With as many that died here, he probably would've passed out." Annabeth answered.

We walked a little further down, to get a better view, when Annabeth crashed into someone. It was Hermes.

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked, helping him up. He must be very unbalanced today. He fell twice, so far.

"Hoping to not relive the chaos that went on inside those towers." He grumbled.

"Are any of the others here?" I asked.

"No. None of the others were in the towers." His eyes turned distant, and if you looked closely, you could almost see the fire and fall towers.

"You were in the towers?" Annabeth asked, her eyes wide. 

"I was visit two of my children who worked there. My daughter was expecting a baby soon, and my son was waiting for his wife to have their second kid. I was about to tell them to leave, and get out of the building, but then the windows shattered, and I felt the nose of the plane crash into my back. Glass fell down my throat, and sliced through it, so I couldn't speak. And that's all I remember. Other then waking up five days later on Olympus, with Apollo standing over my bed, rubbing something on my throat. I found out later that Athena had found me under the ruble." He wouldn't look at us, and instead looking at the fountains.

Looking closely, you could see the thin line where the glass had scared his neck. A constant reminder of the pain he went through.


End file.
